The Pittsburgh Dish
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The Pittsburgh Dish
042 Small Business Beginnings with Healthy Heartbeets
(00:50) First up this week, Hannah Olsen, a familiar name from The Pittsburgh Dish (episode 005), joins us to share her latest passion project, Batches Bakehouse. This shared kitchen space in the Arlington neighborhood of Pittsburgh isn't just about baking; it's a support network where local small bakers thrive. Discover the story behind the bakehouse's inception, and get a sneak peek at their upcoming holiday pop-up event, a must-visit bake sale for anyone looking to support local artisans during the festive season.
(09:49) We then introduce Julian Figaretti and HongChing Cheung, the dynamic duo behind Healthy Heartbeats. These food innovators have crafted a health-centric product using beet powder, chia seeds, and hemp seeds, aiming to revolutionize how we think about nutrition. Listen as they share their journey through the Fulton Commons food accelerator program and their nascent experience into markets. With Julian's expertise in production and HongChing's flair for digital marketing, they exemplify how a perfect partnership can bring a unique product to life.
(32:52) We unveil the personal backstories of Julian and HongChing that led them to their current business. From Julian's roots with a family-owned restaurant to HongChing's family culture from Hong Kong to Pittsburgh, their stories highlight the power of family and food in entrepreneurship. Join us, and let these stories inspire your entrepreneurial journey.
Welcome to The Pittsburgh Dish. I'm your host, Doug Heilman. Have you ever thought about creating and selling your own original food product? We talk to the business partners of Healthy Heartbeets and learn about their journey. But first up, do you need some help with your holiday baking? Maybe it's not your strong suit. Help with your holiday baking Maybe it's not your strong suit. Well, we catch up with Pittsburgh Dish guest alum Hannah Olsen and learn how Batch's Bakehouse might be able to help you out. All that ahead, stay tuned. The Pittsburgh Dish is supported by Chip and Kale plant-based meals. Head to their website at www. chipandkale. com and use code DISH to save on your next order. Now on to the show. Let's give a call to our friend Hannah Olsen of Aycho Melange Macarons. She recently opened a shared baking space for small makers like her and they're starting to do pop-ups for the holidays and other special events. Let's give her a call.
Hannah:Hey, Doug.
Doug:Hey, hannah, how are you?
Hannah:I'm doing good. How are you?
Doug:I'm great. It is so nice to hear your voice. It's been too long.
Hannah:I know it has been a little bit, but we've both been very busy, so it's understandable.
Doug:Right, so I really wanted to catch up with you, since we talked last way back on episode five. Since then you can you believe that I know it's been so long You've opened a shared baking space. Can you remind our listeners what the name is?
Hannah:Yeah, of course. So my shared kitchen is Batch's Bakehouse.
Doug:Okay, and so now this is the home of your macaron making Aycho Melange Macarons and several other smaller makers like you. Is that right?
Hannah:Yes, correct, so I was my very first tenant, so I mean, you know, I had to believe in myself, of course. So Aycho Melange does operate out of the Bakehouse, as well as, at this point, about seven other businesses, and we have two that are waiting on their turn to get through the Allegheny County Health Department system.
Hannah:So by the end of the year we'll hopefully have nine people on board, which is astounding to me. You know, I was really hoping when I started I think I got my license at the end of June to get the bakehouse open. So to have this many people that have responded to this little bakehouse and show the need for it has just been like so great. But yeah, we have. We have a lot of great bakers and we actually even have an alumni member already. Evanly Bakes was with us for a short time while he had his Honeycomb fundraiser and got his new shop up and running. So we're so proud of him and his new bakery in New Kensington that literally just opened. I believe over the weekend they had their soft opening.
Hannah:So, it's amazing.
Doug:Yeah, as we're recording, we're just past the sort of Black Friday weekend and I will say Evanly Bakes is on my list of folks to talk to.
Hannah:He would be a great candidate to talk to. He has a great story and he's just very well-spoken. I love Evan, so definitely recommend you chat with him.
Doug:Well, I want to get back to you too. Can you remind our listeners some of the places that they can pick up your macarons right now?
Hannah:Oh yeah, of course. So you can get Aycho Melange macarons a few doors down from the bakehouse at Hilltop Coffee. They were my very first wholesale partner and I'm so proud to still have them on board. We also sell retail packs at Arm Full Flowers. We often have packs at The Cheese Queen over on Brownsville Road. We sell individual macarons through Carnegie Coffee and seasonally in the summers we partner with Frosty Cone in Elizabeth PA to do Macaron Ice Cream Sandwiches and, I'm sure, oh and Generosta off the Warrendale exit, Generosta Cafe. Oh yeah, I need to keep a better running list because I'm always like adding one more at the end when I remember.
Doug:Well, you're doing really well off the cuff, because you didn't know I was going to ask that. Oh, thank you. I want to ask one more question. So I know you have these nine or so bakers and the bakehouse itself is not necessarily for retail, but you're starting to do pop-ups. I know you did one in around the Thanksgiving time and you're going to do one coming up soon. Can you remind us first where is Batch's Bakehouse located?
Hannah:Great question, great place to start. So Batch's Bakehouse is in Arlington, the neighborhood of Arlington, in the city of Pittsburgh, on Arlington Avenue. A lot of people think when I say that their first reaction is oh, like over by Ala Familia. We're actually kind of on the other end, maybe like a mile away from there. We're right next to Hilltop Coffee in Rainy Days Hair Salon.
Doug:Perfect and you are having an upcoming event more for, like, the holiday and Christmas season, and when is that happening?
Hannah:So we are having our second pop-up bakehouse bake sale on Sunday, December 22nd. It'll be from 11 am to 2 pm and the way it works is all of the member businesses that are available will have their own little pop-up table. And we invite the neighborhood, we invite all of our customers and friends you know everybody to come into the bakehouse, which you typically can't do but to come in and meet the members and shop their goods. And it's a really good way, especially positioning it right before the holiday, as we did for the first one and this one to kind of like stock up and get all of the different goods you might want for brunch or for an evening event or for gifting, all in one space. And obviously it encourages these mostly very new businesses to keep going and it helps them grow and it gives them exposure. And it was really great and you know it's.
Hannah:It was really great the first event we did. I was obviously very nervous, because that's the kind of person I am, but you know it was my first event. You never know how it's going to go, who's going to show up, and we had five of our vendors participate. Every single one of them sold at least 98% of the product they brought, or all of it, most of them totally sold out and I it was just so great that in the whole reason for doing this pop-up it's not for the bake houses benefit, it's for the small businesses. So to see their reaction and you know it went so well that they said can we do this again next month? So we decided that we would do another one for Christmas and then we'll we'll pick a date after that, maybe for, like Valentine's day, but it'll hopefully be something that we can continue to have as long as there's interest shown for our members.
Doug:How wonderful. I love the timing, especially for folks that are not bakers or cookie makers or something. They can come by really soon, pick something up and get to know some of those vendors and then, just like you told us where you vend regularly, I imagine some of these other bakers also have other spots that folks can go to to pick up their goods.
Hannah:Oh, definitely. Yeah, we had several people coming in for the event we had just before Thanksgiving and they said my family's in town, I'm not doing desserts, I don't know how to bake, can I just get? And they bought like something from all of the tables.
Julian:And.
Hannah:I know you have exactly and Scone Ranger did take and bake dozens and I know they're doing that again for this event, as well as having fresh scones, and I know that they just met so many new fanatics, because once you have one, it changes your life.
Doug:There are such good products and you are helping this person who has this passion to do a thing and do it really well.
Hannah:Yeah, that's. I think my favorite thing about the Bakehouse in general is that it is really showcasing and giving, I guess, a platform to these small businesses that are usually hyper focusedfocused on a product or a good, and they do it so well because they have a great story behind it, they have passion behind it and it's just a super special, you know, unique product and story that they can give to a customer through their food. So it is, it's just, it's so cool.
Doug:I love it so much. And, Hannah, I just want to make sure that folks know if they want to find and follow the Bakehouse, where would you point them to in terms of social media or website, that kind of thing?
Hannah:For the website, you can look up Bakehouse PGH. com. And then for socials. We're on Facebook and Instagram. Both are Batches Bakehouse. You'll see our big purple logo with a B as our little profile badge, so you'll know you're at the right spot.
Doug:Oh, how perfect. And just a little side note if you do have another aspiring baker vendor creator out there that would want to join in, is it the website that they can go to then to find more information?
Hannah:Oh, definitely, yeah, we have an intake form on the website that they can go to then to find more information. Oh, definitely, yeah, we have an intake form on the website. If there's anybody that's interested in joining the Bakehouse or just chatting about, you know what's involved. If you're new to the idea of having a business, I would definitely recommend that. I'm always happy to answer questions over DM. But if you fill out the intake form, that will kind of eliminate a lot of the follow up back and forth. All right, kind of eliminate a lot of the follow-up back and forth.
Doug:All right. Hannah Olsen, thank you so much for everything you're doing, not only with your own business, making macarons, which are amazing, but also providing the space for so many other aspiring bakers and creators out there.
Hannah:Oh my gosh. Well, of course, and thank you for the kind words that's, I love it and you know I just appreciate that it's helping people, so I can't wait. Hopefully we'll see you at the bake sale and anyone listening. I know I know we're. It's a very busy time of year but for anyone listening, if you come by, let us know if you heard about it on the podcast. We'll have a little special something for you, for sure we would love that.
Doug:Hannah Olsen, thank you so much once again for being on The Pittsburgh Dish and happy holidays of course you too. Up next. I first met our next two guests when I was invited to Fulton Commons as a panelist judge for folks that are creating their own small businesses, typically around consumer packaged food goods. Let's hear more about the journey of business partners Julian and Hong Ching with Healthy Heartbeats. Thank you both so much for coming over and for being on the show. Would you take a moment just to introduce yourselves?
Julian:Sure, I am Julian Figaretti from Wheeling West Virginia.
HongChing:My name is HongChing Cheung and I'm from Pittsburgh, PA.
Doug:And can you describe for our listeners what you have going on right now in the world of food?
Julian:Yes, absolutely so. We have a very fun healthy product called Healthy Heartbeets, spelled like the vegetable, yeah, b-e-e-t-s. Yep, it is featuring beet powder, which is amazing for you, and then it's just beet powder, chia seeds and hemp seeds, so three actually natural foods. Three natural foods very good for you and are just a great addition to your diet in your life.
Doug:I love it. I met you all at Fulton Commons. You've gone through the food accelerator program there to develop this product and have you finished that?
HongChing:program we did yeah.
Doug:What do we call it? Consumer packaged good. Consumer packaged food product. I know folks probably haven't heard of your product that much yet, so we're going to talk about it in detail. But if they are interested right away in buying the product, is it available for sale right now?
Julian:Yep right on the website. Okay.
Doug:And so we'll talk about the website later. And I also noticed did you guys recently do some farmer's markets? Are you starting into that as well?
Julian:As many tabling opportunities as we could get and luckily Fulton Commons started a new farmer's market. Yes and we were able to get a spot there and table and everything.
Doug:How did that go?
HongChing:Oh, that was wonderful. It was our first time um and we got a lot of great feedback and they love the packaging um, but we've done it twice with them, right, right, yeah. And we have um had other opportunities too, with mind fuel as well, um, just you know, again tabling, meeting new people, kind of allying with the health and wellness, so it's been a great opportunity.
Julian:And she's being bashful. She did a fantastic job with the whole setup for the table and everything and we got a lot of compliments on that itself, especially when people would ask us and find out this was our first tabling event. They're like, oh my gosh, this looks so good Well let me ask that.
Doug:So you guys are partners in this endeavor. How do you divide the work here, or is it sort of still up in the air?
HongChing:It's interesting because I think we play by our strengths.
Doug:Yes.
HongChing:And it kind of just fell into place. Again I'd say we're pretty opposite of each other, oh, okay. Yeah, like you know, again, he's such more of an extrovert and more of introvert, um, but we, we do well in those roles and it kind of like puts a product together. Um, I said we haven't fought yet but we're, we're waiting, we're waiting to fight. It's gonna happen eventually, um, but in terms of roles, um, I do most of the um, I guess, like behind the scenes, like the marketing part.
HongChing:Yes, digital marketing the website more of the operations and I like behind the scenes, like the marketing part, digital marketing the website more of the operations. And I mean Julian can talk on his behalf about the production part.
Julian:Yeah, so I have a bit of a food background and so I was taking on the production side of things in the kitchen, setting up how things are going to go in there, try to figure out the best process and all the little things like that to make it flow smoothly.
Doug:Do you put the product together in the Fulton Commons kitchen? Yes, oh yeah, it's an amazing facility.
Julian:It is yeah, pittsburgh is very much lacking in like that part of the infrastructure for consumer packaged goods, in like that part of the infrastructure for consumer packaged goods, cpgs and they are definitely one of like the nicest bridges into that realm. Yeah.
Doug:Having that certified kitchen and it's a shared space. A lot of folks rent a little particular part of the space, but you have all kinds of equipment if you need it and storage cold and hot and all that wonderful stuff. Oh yeah, they did it upright, that's for sure. So, Julian, you mentioned that there's a lot of health benefits to the product.
Julian:I would just like to explore for our listeners how folks use your product to how I started using the product and had like kind of the inception of this idea was back in 2017 or 2018. My parents bought a beet powder product off of a commercial okay, and. I was like oh.
Julian:I don't know. And then I started using it and it turns out this stuff actually really works. It helps out with blood flow. It has a lot of nitric oxide and blood flows through your body better, has a lot of health benefits. But it really helps out with physical activities as well and I'm a very active person and I would be doing like two, three or four sports in a day and I definitely noticed a big difference in just like how much endurance I had, how quickly I recovered in during sports and all sorts of stuff.
Doug:Beets naturally lower blood pressure a little bit too. So it's not just for someone that's going out and doing all the sports, but anyone that's looking to have a healthier moment in their diet right.
Julian:Yeah, that's one thing we've talked about with our marketing is that people are trying to be healthier and figure that out, and it doesn't have to be a complete overhaul of your entire life and everything you eat. If you could just start to do little things like that, like one scoop in something you already eat, you know, you just did good for your body yeah, and the chia and the hemp.
Doug:Keep me honest, it's. It's adding some fiber, other nutrients in there as well right.
Julian:Oh yeah, they're packed with nutrients. Hemp seeds are one of the only complete proteins in the plant world. I know there's others out there. And then they have vitamins and minerals, iron they both have omegas, which are really good for you, high in fiber, and just like the list goes on with all the micronutrients. They have going on Wonderful.
Doug:Hongqing. How have you seen folks use the product? Are there any recipes or things that you're putting it into to give a wide variety of use?
HongChing:Yeah, so definitely is a challenge for our customers to figure out what to use. We try to like kind of give them a gateway is like OK, like smoothies. Smoothies are your basic, simple way to add nutrition. But I know not everyone's into smoothies. So we have actually developed some recipes together to kind of make it more versatile. So, for example, I have add this um making my hummus, oh yeah yeah, so it's a very interesting um.
HongChing:I mean, it's the same texture, just a little bit more seeds around um, but it's such a vibrant color, like when you dip your chips in. It's just a lot more fun, it's very instagrammable.
Doug:Yes, it really is I like that idea of having the, the hemp and the chia in hummus to give it a little crunch to the hummus.
HongChing:Yes, and that kind of goes the same, because I've eaten rice most of my life, it's just kind of part of my culture, so I've been adding that to my rice as well.
HongChing:And it has been giving this really vibrant, soft orange coral color. If you add more, of course, it would be a deeper pink. But the seeds, again the crunch, kind of adds that texture. It's like how you would add rice and quinoa together to kind of have that texture. Similar effect. Um, just made the dish just know a lot more beautiful. And again, it's like one step at a time. You know it's it's not like we're doing a full overhaul of your diet, let's just change everything about it, but we're just slowly incorporating it into your daily life until you're comfortable enough to like move forward with other, just like healthier habits.
Doug:It's just like a new fun ingredient, I think, and you guys offered me a sample mixed in with yogurt and it looked amazing, like you said, with the color and that little bit of texture. I did take a look on your website and did I also see pancakes or muffins?
HongChing:Pancakes and muffins are a big big one. Like people who who likes to bake and love to eat muffins in the morning, they can easily just add that into their recipe. We also have done like people with like sweet tooth, like cookies are a big one. Sugar cookies simple recipe. And it just turns it super pink with, like again, a bunch of seeds.
Doug:I know we have done something with like Jak's bakery um oh yeah, bread over in Bloomfield, yes, oh, that's cool, it's a novel product. I think you were telling me there are beet powders but there is nothing on the market with the chia and the hemp seed too. So you're giving that texture and that extra protein and other nutrients. And I always think about when I go to a grocery store and I do buy a new ingredient for the first time. It takes me a while to figure out where I want to use it. Aside from baking or throwing it in your hummus and your yogurt and your rice, are there any other applications you've seen folks use your product for some people will just put it in water, mix it up and drink it.
Julian:Okay and uh, or like even hot water, drink it kind of like tea, like a tea, and then scoop out the seeds at the end they love it. They're just like it's a nice little snack. Oh, wow, um. And then another friend of ours, that's a customer, would put it with their peanut butter and mix it in like that. Yeah, I like this.
Doug:Now I do want to say I love beets, but some folks sometimes don't love that earthiness of a fresh beet, or even a fresh cooked beet. So true, but this is different. It's a milder flavor. It doesn't overpower what you're mixing it into, correct, would you agree?
HongChing:yeah, just I would like to say that we're like beet converters you're beet converters. I love that because we have given out samples where you know people dislike beets and it's like oh, actually it's a very subtle taste yes, I guess, if you like, make it right. You know like you could add as much as you want or as less as you like, and you know you kind of play with your palate a bit. I mean, we definitely have some mixed reviews from the kids, but that's like you know that's kids, yeah, but some.
HongChing:some are surprising, like some kids actually like it. I think it's partly that you know if you don't tell them what's in it?
Doug:they like it more until they find out it's like a vegetable, oh yeah yeah, yeah, sometimes you got to sneak it in and I think, yes, since it is such a vibrant color, you actually might have a good lead first to just show, like these cookies that are bright pink, and then let them try it, and then maybe tell them later or maybe don't tell them at all.
Julian:So yeah, the one, uh, the one couple with their kids. They are pretty picky and the only vegetable they could get in their diet is to mix spinach with muffins. Oh, wow. And they're like okay, this goes perfectly in the muffins and we're going to be able to figure out how to hide this in other things. So their kids actually eat some vegetables, which is such a great application. I can relate, because I was an incredibly picky kid and did not have good nutrition. For sure I wouldn't eat anything, and now you're a convert.
Julian:Oh yeah, Such a convert. There's almost nothing that I won't eat or try.
Doug:What I love about this story is it's those little moves that you said earlier. You're just getting people to kind of step in a little closer into healthy lifestyle or throw this secret ingredient into something to make it a little healthier. So I think it's very approachable. I also love that we talked about it being both for sweet or savory items, because there is no sugar. We are talking truly just three ingredients, right? Yes, oh, that's amazing.
Julian:Yeah, people love that.
Doug:On a package now ingredients right, yes, oh, that's amazing. Yeah, people love that on a package. Now I I did want to say I want to take a step back. You had mentioned about the packaging. Your logo is super cute. Who did that little beet heart logo?
Julian:so I had uh like a vision for that over the years to try to mix like a heart and a beet together, okay, uh. And then I've had like a couple people draw stuff for me and then I just went on fiverr and had a freelancer do that up for me it was super easy. It was like, okay, this is, this is right in the ballpark of what I wanted, and then we had a graphic designer do like an initial package for us and like, clean that logo up.
Doug:Yeah.
Julian:And there we go. That's. That's where the logo came from.
Doug:The packaging looks really beautiful the latest one that I saw. Oh, thank you.
HongChing:Thank you.
Doug:You're actually stepping me into my next sort of train of thought opening a business and creating a product from an idea. Can you tell us a little bit more about that journey? Where did it start? How did you get going? Where do you feel you are right now?
HongChing:So I guess different timelines here. I kind of came on to the business a bit later, but I'm going to have Julian talk about the beginnings. I guess how we met might be the flourishing part of it.
Julian:Oh yeah, definitely, I was on my own for a long time. I had the initial idea in college, back in like 2018, that I wanted to start a business of some sort and I was really interested in industrial hemp at the time. Okay, and my family comes from food like we have a restaurant and everything, oh, wow. So I figured, okay, okay, I'll go, I'll go the food route and I'll do. Hemp seeds started. The llc. That realized very quickly can't really compete with these giant companies that are already selling that and whatnot. So I was like, okay, I have to do something else and make something new. And and that coincided with what I mentioned earlier trying beet powder for the first time and I was like, okay, can I? Is this in anything else? And it wasn't like it was just a supplement at the time and I was like, oh my gosh, I think I have something here.
Doug:Light bulb moment.
Julian:Yeah, for real. I can almost remember the moment that that happened and I started experimenting and trying to figure out what I can make and I knew I wanted to incorporate the hemp seeds and the beet powder. Chia seeds just kind of naturally ended up in there.
Julian:And.
Julian:I made a drink out of it, which I'm not a food scientist, so didn't know how to make that shelf stable. It was definitely really good. Would love to do that product in the future. But then I just played with that recipe and made a snack out of it, these little strips that actually launched that product on the market two or three years ago now, I forget, and that did you know. Moderately okay, but I didn't have a great plan, not that organized of a person myself, so it was kind of amazing.
Julian:I even made it that far alone and worked on that for a little while, a little more than a year, and the production side of things because there's a dehydration component makes it way like very long, a little tricky, a little tricky to get all that right and to get into places. So then I put that product on pause and not long after around the time I put it on pause, also had the idea wonder if people would just buy this as a powder. And then, uh, HongC hing steps on the scene. Uh, thank god. Uh. So I work at a climbing gym in town iron city boulders and she was doing some marketing for the gym and we just ended up in a conversation and I had mentioned that I was doing. Uh, you know, I had a food business and she was like do you want some help?
HongChing:oh so, I think what like I guess a few steps back. I was working for a digital marketing firm for about three years, so I did a lot of like Google ads, facebook, social media and I just noticed that, like my work and life balance wasn't really up to just it wasn't really great for me personally and I loved what I did. So it was really hard to part ways just at the moment, but I did just like trying to realign myself and figure out like what other things I'd like to do or my routines and just eating healthier and being more active. After I resigned from my job, so I took on freelance work.
Julian:And.
HongChing:I was working with Iron City Boulders with their marketing. They didn't have anything set up at the time so it was really fun for me to just be able to explore different ideas and kind of like pitch it out there and see what works and didn't work, just using my knowledge highly creative. Yeah, it was, it was like a breath of fresh air to just learn. Take everything I learned and like recreate it to to my standards how I won it and that's I know.
HongChing:I've heard that Julian here had a business and, you know, since I was like freelancing, I'm still trying to figure out myself it was like, oh, I have time, I have. You know, like I want to learn other type of skills, so I offered um Julian, like, hey, like, would you like to get your website redone for free?
Doug:just I was like please help me oh my gosh, this is the side that you had been missing, Julian.
Julian:Oh, so much so I had been asking the world for a partner for so long, so it finally got heard.
HongChing:It was really funny because I actually started like the first week of January of this year. We were very consistent, you know. I was like, okay, look, I'm willing to help, I love marketing. So like, if you're about this, I will go in on you with this. So you're, if you're about this, I will go in on you with this.
HongChing:So you know he gave me a sample to try again, this is just a website, so I wasn't like so invested the time. It's like, okay, I'm just here trying to like improve my skillset and you know I try the product and it's like, oh, I really like this Like. I never really got into beets. It's not a vegetable I would pick up from the grocery store out of the blue. So trying the sample for the first time, just like adding it again.
HongChing:Okay, the first time I had it, I kind of just ate it out of the sample packet because, like.
HongChing:I like the mix. Yeah, it's a little crunchy, it's a bit country I didn't add it to what?
HongChing:no, I just I, I liked the way it actually just like felt good texture, good texture. I was definitely great texture and after that I was like, oh, like.
Julian:I liked the way it actually just like felt Good texture, good texture. I was shocked Definitely great texture.
HongChing:And after that I was like, oh, like I'm seeing the benefits like alongside with, like being healthier and eating, like being more active and eating healthier and having a sample and like consistently using it for I guess, until it was gone, like I definitely felt there was an improvement in my energy.
HongChing:It's like, oh, the more I worked worked the website too the more I really aligned with, like you know, the health benefits I just aligned with, like the vision yes um, that julian had, and it just, you know, really made a lot of sense that we partnered up, and you know, again, we're both very opposite of each other, so it really put us in a great spot. Yes, to develop this product even farther.
Doug:A great compliment to one another, yeah.
Julian:This is Julian Figaretti.
HongChing:And this is HongChing Cheung. We're the co-owners of Healthy Heartbeats, and you're listening to The Pittsburgh Dish.
Doug:I wanted to ask too when did you get into Fulton, into that program of the accelerator? It's like a speaking series, isn't it? And then they give you a couple of tasks to do.
Julian:Yes, so they started out. This was the second year they've done something like this. Initially they only had an incubator which is a little bit shorter. Typically if you have an idea or a concept and now you need to know a bunch of knowledge around that in a business in that industry. So they put that on in May and Darcy, the girl that was running it, she had reached out because she had somehow heard that I had a business.
Doug:And you were a little further along, maybe than even what this incubator was meant to do, right?
Julian:yeah, just a little bit, because we had the LLC established and working off of that and, you know, pretty much had a product, just didn't have all the rest of the stuff around it yet. Yes, the support, yes HongC hing support yes 100 percent, uh.
Julian:And so then we got into the incubator in May and that was the first round of getting through that process and, you know, relearning a bunch of stuff, because I studied business in college but having it focused on, you know, food and packaged foods was really good. Food and packaged foods was really good. So then we went back for the accelerator program, which is longer, more in-depth, and ended up pitching at that contest and that's where we met you. That's right. Both of the events.
HongChing:So we've been through a far journey since we started, even with the first incubator program. I know the accelerator program is the one that we finished off. We both, of course, have business um in college as well, but it's a great refresher to to kind of learn back the basic and go back to the drawing board and just kind of like check off things that we have done or haven't done. And with that first program I feel like we have like established so much on the like, I guess, governmental part of it, you know, getting all the forms ready and my favorite the legal, the legal side of things.
HongChing:Yeah the legal side things and had definitely opened up our eyes about, like rebranding our package um just like figuring out if this is like the right material for our package or should we go with the box, and so you know, like that helped us just kind of a baseline of things. So when we went into a seller program we were more like put together, and so now we have these other questions I can like add on top of what we were already doing.
Doug:So much growth since you started. I would imagine, too, going to school for business but not having your own product or your own business at the time. Right, it's very hypothetical. But going through these other programs, you had the prize already in mind. You have this business and this product that you're working on, so what could be better? Right?
Julian:Oh, yeah, for sure. If you're going into an industry and actually pursuing an idea, find a program like that. There is definitely an incubator in a city somewhere close by that is in your industry, and learning in person like that is so beneficial through that consumer packaged food product, if that's what you're looking to do.
Doug:So I wanted to pivot a little bit. We've heard a little bit about where you're from, but I'd love to ask more, just about the both of you. Julian, I think I've picked up. You're from West Virginia, went to school for business. I was curious when you mentioned your family had a restaurant. Tell me a little bit more about that.
Julian:Yeah, absolutely. The family restaurant Figaretti's in wheeling west virginia, started in 1949 whoa yeah, it's been around quite a while now. Uh, my grandfather and his four brothers they basically quit where they were doing and started a restaurant and then my great-grandmother was the one who, like, originally, made the sauce and everything that kind of stuff at the time. I'm pretty sure it got my great uncles.
Julian:A couple of them were doing different things, so everybody just went in together the whole, all the relatives, just piled into this venture yeah, and so then that's been a staple of wheeling for a very long time now and back in I'm forgetting the dates but like the 80s or the 90s my one cousin started the sauce factory and jarring the sauce selling that around town. And then he's grown that over the years and now his brother is the owner of the restaurant. They work in conjunction together. So Sauce Factory obviously provides all the sauce and everything and the meatballs, that kind of stuff. They do a lot of that production and then, uh, the restaurant is a staple, still going strong, still going strong.
Doug:And say it again, figure eddie's restaurant in wheeling, in wheeling all right, there's my, there's our, there's our restaurant of the week, probably shameless plug.
Julian:Of course we have to.
Doug:So, Julian, you really grew up in food all your life and you're venturing out into a totally different direction in this like health product kind of oh yeah, food. All right, I love it. And did you go to school in west virginia? Yeah, at WVU all right for business yep, okay, yeah, I bounced around to.
Julian:That was my fifth major that.
Doug:I ended on. Sometimes we've got to find ourselves.
Julian:Oh yeah, for sure, major number one, finance, was not happening for me. I was like wait, no, this isn't what I thought it was.
Doug:And I also you mentioned you have a healthy lifestyle, did I see? Rock climbing is like a thing for you, right? Yeah, this is why beet powder and all of its benefits really help out.
Julian:It is very pertinent to the sports that I do. For sure, my main sports nowadays are rock climbing, of course, like I coach our youth team and do some private coaching, but I also love whitewater sports. You know the season, you know when it's a little warmer I don't do any winter boating. It's a little chilly. Yeah, it's a little late in season't do any winter boating a little chilly. Yeah, it's a little late in season for me.
Julian:I don't have a dry suit or anything okay um, and then running basketball, disc golf, tennis, a lot, of, a lot of sports. I like to dabble a couple things, just a couple, yeah hong ching you mentioned you grew up in pittsburgh yes, um, I actually immigrated here when I was two years old.
HongChing:Yeah, my family and I are originally from Hong Kong. Okay, so our aunt sponsored us and we're in the United States, but the rest is history. Most of my family, my mom and my dad, are both all in Hong Kong, so we're the only family here, beyond my aunt and my uncle, and did you go to school locally as well.
HongChing:I did. I went to Chatham University. I also kind of like switched around like Julian did. I did start out with international business but then, like, based on the job market, I was like, oh gosh, maybe I'm not going to find a job here. So I went to accounting and then about, I think, my junior year, I realized how much I hated accounting. It just wasn't really for me. It was like, oh, this, this isn't really, uh, aligned with what I really wanted. So I switched to marketing. But I still love the like international background of it.
HongChing:So I of course, ended up just double majoring the international business and marketing of course you did like it just aligned well, like with each other.
HongChing:It's like oh, okay, I do like this. And yeah, I mean I dabbled in food. I guess, like throughout college and even high school I worked in a lot of um restaurants. Okay, like my dad was a a cook as well, so he always was the one to um cook dinner for us every night. So I had a lot of homemade, like Chinese cuisine meals that I still like make today and again, it's so strange to say this, but like, as a child I wasn't really about eating rice every day.
Doug:It's like oh, this is so annoying.
HongChing:Like I want a hamburger, like everybody else, so I want pasta.
Doug:Yeah, you wanted to be the westernized kids that you were probably going to school with Exactly.
HongChing:And so, as I've grown and it's like wow, actually I just want to eat rice. It's plain, it's simple, I can change up the veggies, change up the protein. But he, of course I have influenced in some ways that made me feel comfortable applying to these service jobs. Food service, so you know I've been a waitress, a busser, I've been most of the front of the house. Like I have worked in groceries before, like a Chinese grocer I've actually worked at Wholey's. Oh, wow, yeah.
Doug:So I've been around the fishes during the summertime I have done several demos at Wholey's. I love Wholey's, I love Wholey's.
HongChing:It was such a great like environment and just like a great insight into food, I think. Well, that's why I'm like so compelled by this product that I have this experience of you know, eating healthy at home you know, and when I went to college, there was a lack of opportunity to cook in the kitchen there's a lot of cafeteria food, and so you know it made me want to live a better lifestyle.
HongChing:It's just off of what my, my dad had cooked me and just you know, working in the food industry and seeing like the ins and out, you know you get to have an understanding of what is, I guess, what is I don't say healthy, what is like good for you yeah personally because I know, like the restaurant food, you know there's good restaurant food and bad restaurant food.
Doug:So there's a lot of hidden fat and sodium and things that don't really work so well with us over time.
HongChing:Yes, yeah so, just you know, always, I always keep in mind that, like you know, as a child I hate my dad's cooking. I would bring fried rice to school, right, and I was like, oh, like I don't want to eat this, and all all my friends are like, oh my gosh, like you got, can I have that? So it was such an opposite. But as I have gone older, it's like, wow, I really appreciate him making these like type of food every day for me and, you know, just providing some type of greens every day. So it just has a big impact on me.
Doug:I find that so many folks start to appreciate what their parents did when we're older me included and also that you're appreciating, really, that home food, that family food and I think that's one of the shared things I hear on the show again and again. And you both grew up in very food centric worlds then, yeah, amazing, and now you're carving out this whole new niche. Congratulations, thank you. Yeah, thank you.
HongChing:It's definitely just very different from what I have planned. Growing in a very traditional Chinese household, I personally have gone through the whole college experience. I'm the first generation to go to college so it's like this expectation to kind of like follow through with going to college with the major and using that major to your career, and I think by like stepping back a bit was it's a bit hard, it's different and, you know, just kind of breaking out that mold of like what is right in in.
HongChing:I guess in the mindset of my traditional household.
Doug:What does your family think of this venture? What do they think of Healthy Heartbeets?
HongChing:I think they're still trying to take it in. It's a difficult concept because it's so far from like what we see in movies or what we see in our daily society of like okay, you do like a nine to five, so trying to tell my mom that, like, oh, my hours are all over, all over the place.
Doug:Right, whatever you need them to be or want them to be.
HongChing:That doesn't really resonate. It doesn't compute but, it will, but she knows I'm doing something and she knows that I love what I do. So it's like, okay, she's happy, she's happy for me. I think that's all she cares about. It's like am I happy? I'm happy. So, whether it was like a nine to five or not, I'm having a good life. I think that's all. It comes down to whether they understand that concept or not.
Doug:You, they understand that concept or not. You're applying skills. You're doing things. You've done so many things that they did expect and now you're breaking out on your own.
Hannah:Yeah.
Doug:Julian, what does your family think of the business?
Julian:They love the idea of me doing this. A lot of my family members are in some type of business and whatnot In food In food as well. My immediate family, my dad had a hot dog cart oh wow, which was so much fun. He like retired from Amtrak and needed something to do and so that was like my first food business that I kind of went into. We did that together for years and that was super fun. Yeah, so since I've talked about wanting to have a business and do that most of my adult life, you know they're very supportive, and now that this product is actually like gaining some traction and everything, it's a little bit more exciting. Yes, which is cool, it's real. It's real, it's happening. It's always nice to catch up with the family and they're just like all right, how's it doing this and that and everything. Which is cool. Yeah.
Doug:I think that's a great springboard to ask what is next. I know you've launched the website. Folks can buy the product there. You've done the markets. What are some other next step goals for you with the business?
Julian:The next step will be to get into some smaller grocery stores around the size of like the East End Co op. We're hoping to get in there. We've sent some emails out Other specialty shops that we think it would do well in would be like the Millvale Market or Mayfly, things like that to test those areas and see how well it moves.
Doug:Are you in Linea Verde right now? Did you do that?
Julian:Yes, okay, we are in the green market. Gina, love Gina.
Doug:We can relate. Gina has given so many opportunities to so many people. I know that the broth monger has sold soup out of there and just a lot of other like cool things, so folks need to check her out over in Bloomfield as well.
Julian:Oh yeah, Gina is like the mom of Bloomfield she is, it's great.
Doug:All right, so well, let's do this. So if folks are interested right now, why don't we give them the website and your social handles?
HongChing:So our website is healthyheartbeets. com. Beets like the vegetable.
Doug:Yeah, B-E-E-T-S. B-e-e-t-s.
HongChing:Yes, beats like the vegetable b-e-e-t-s. And as for our instagram handle.
Doug:It's healthy underscore heartbeets, so people should give that a follow, for sure we'll love it, thank you all right, so we're coming to the end of our time. I'm going to ask you a question you can both answer separately. The name of the show is The Pittsburgh Dish. What's the best dish you've eaten this past week?
HongChing:oh wait, I need a second to think on that. I love food, so it's like what did I eat? This?
Julian:I know me too. Oh, that's, uh, that's a good one. So last week, uh, my friends get together on thursdays and have like a nice group dinner and whatnot and uh, last week's was pretty good. It was like nice and simple. It was just some salmon, rice, veggies. My roommate made like this really nice sauce to go with it. It was like a yogurt base, had some things in it, really helped elevate it and that was definitely the best thing I had.
Doug:Best bites for Julian last week. Yeah, the salmon dinner with friends. Yeah, all right, sounds delicious.
HongChing:I actually my partner and I we love this dish so much because it's my comfort food and it's called mapo tofu.
Doug:Mapo tofu yeah.
HongChing:So tofu with minced pork over rice it's such a like. For me it's like a fall dish because it's like steamy and warm, it's all in the bowl. So if your hands are cold you just kind of cup the bowl as a pan warmer.
HongChing:And I love it.
HongChing:It's such a cozy and I love spicy food. Spicy food is like my number one thing, so it really just incorporates all the nice texture of the tofu and the beef all on top of rice, kind of just melts on top of it. It's delicious, I love it and it's always my go-to for like a bad day.
Doug:Oh, so best bite of the week for you.
HongChing:Yes.
Julian:It's like we need to make a spicy heartbeets yeah.
Doug:Maybe a little cayenne or something in there. Okay, there's new ideas.
HongChing:I was thinking about applesauce with heartbeets. So that's still in the works, but we'll see how that turns out.
Doug:I mean, there's so many applications. I just wish you all the best and I think the sky's the limit, Thank you. Thanks, HongChing, Julian. Thank you both so much for being on The Pittsburgh Dish.
Julian:Oh, thank you for having us.
HongChing:This has been great. It's been wonderful, thank you.
Doug:And, as we mentioned earlier, if you find yourself in the Wheeling West Virginia area, check out Figaretti's Restaurant for their longtime family-run Italian standbys and that signature spaghetti sauce so good, that's our show for this week. We'd like to thank all of our guests and contributors, and to Kevin Solecki of Carnegie Accordion Company for providing the music to our show. We'll be back again next week with another fresh episode. Stay tuned.
